


Night like this

by PerriewinkleNerdie



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-14 00:01:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21006350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie
Summary: When life pushes them together they... fight and give up





	Night like this

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello, hello!   
I am so stuck in uni stuff that life is something I do in between classes. That means, that I don’t really get many chances to write… but when I do, I try :D  
This is another one of the requests, send by a lovely Nonnie. Thank you so much, hope you like it <3  
The request was sharing the bed for Ethan and MC and, well, it got my brain working again :D  
Enjoy! <3

Naveen made a promise to himself. A promise to use all the time he had to take care of people closest to him, to help them and make sure they didn’t waste their time. The very first thing he decided to do after coming back to health was to organize weekends at his house. Once a month, he invited Ethan and Claire to stay with him, eat dinner, stay the night and see the morning by the water.

Both of them always agreed, with Ethan driving both them there and back to Boston. Ever since they both came back to the hospital, their relations haven’t been the easiest. The struggle to work and take care of their patients as best as they could, while trying to get over their lingering feelings was one of the most difficult things he ever had to do. Judging by the haunted look in her eyes when their gazes met across the room told him that it was hard for her too.

The atmosphere in the car wasn’t as tense this time. They both knew there were times in which they couldn’t say a word to the other without falling apart. That was not a case this time, though, cause the conversation was flowing so freely that they turned the music down, and then turned it off completely. The past week was hard and the mere thought of a weekend off was enough to make up for it.

“Did you see the face of that intern when you yelled? I must say, Rookie, I didn’t expect you to be able to do this.” he laughed, looking over to her for a split second before returning his eyes to the road.

“I’m taking care of your throat, so that you can talk normally. To your patients, to Naveen, to me… And what can I say, I had a great teacher when it comes to dealing with stubborn interns.” Claire teased, reaching over to pat his arm slightly, sending a trail of sparks up his hand and down her fingers.

“Not sure if I should be proud or offended.” He cleared his throat before responding, his grip on the steering wheel tightening a little.

“Definitely both.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to hold this against you. It’s been a long week, you’re tired and perfectly entitled to react that way. Just… a little secret…” he leaned towards her, keeping his eyes on the road, beckoning her closer to him. They met halfway through over the control panel, his breath brushing against the skin of her cheek as he spoke “… don’t do this too often or people will think that I have a bad influence on you.”

“People already think you have too big of an influence on me. Most of them are jealous, though. Or, at least, that’s what Naveen says.” She concluded, shrugging slightly.

“You’re talking to Naveen about me?”

“Oh, all the time. A few more of those conversations with him and I’ll know everything about you.” she spoke, gauging his reaction. As expected, alarm flashed in his blue irises, two lines appearing above his eyes. Almost as though she didn’t think about what she was doing, she reached once again, smoothing the skin on his forehead tenderly. His breath caught in his throat so briefly that she almost missed it. “Don’t worry about it, you’ll get wrinkles.”

“Sorry to break this to you, Rookie, but I already have wrinkles.” Their conversation morphed from being loose to being a playful banter, and he couldn’t say he minded. He didn’t. She was the only person that could bring out that side of him, make him forget about the cruelty and unforgiveness of the outside world.

“And they are incredibly attractive.”

Ethan didn’t know how to respond to that. He knew that she found him appealing, that much he could figure out from their time together. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t find think she was beautiful. But they were not in the position to speak about it, no matter how much they wanted to shout about it.

The rest of the ride went by with both of them steering away from the difficult subject. Naveen’s house came into the view and they both breathed a sigh of relief. He greeted them with a wide smile and cups of hot wine, as the temperature outside dropped, snow falling from the sky, covering the ground in a thick layer. Ethan carried their bags inside, refusing to let Claire do it on her own. Leaving it by the wall in the living room, he joined her and Naveen in the kitchen.

“Dinner will be ready in a bit. You two can prepare the table… and now I feel like a parent, talking to his kids.” Naveen joked, looking between them, then pointing towards the table.

Their moves were synchronized, in perfect harmony, as though they have been doing this together for years, understanding each other without words. Food made its way onto the table shortly after. Ethan pulled out her chair for her, helping her sit down before joining her and Naveen to eat. His fingers brushed against her shoulders, another round of sparks shooting right through them. Naveen noticed. Of course he did, but he chose to keep quiet, at least for the time being.

Evening turned into the night, alcohol making them just a little bolder, and conversations were moving through diverse subjects. Laughter filled the air, voices were raised with emotions and some tears were falling down their cheeks in hysteric fit of giggles.

“I can’t believe you told her that.” Ethan exclaimed, pretending to be hurt. Claire laughed, falling against him, her forehead pressed against his arm, her body shaking.

“She is just really persuasive.”

“I just offered to trade information.” She raised her hands in mocked defense. Ethan turned to look at her, his fingers itching to brush the lock of hair from her face. It was most likely alcohol that made him do it, his touch lingering a little longer than it should. Alcohol, or at least that’s what he told himself.

“And what exactly sis you offer?”

“A story of your heroic poker game in Miami.” Her voice wavered a little at the end, her mind flooded with memories. Ethan shifted in his chair uncomfortably, his body reacting at the mention of the first apex of his feelings for her. It felt like he has known her forever, when in reality, the night in Miami happened only a few months ago. He shook his head in disbelief.

“Seriously, Rookie, you’re walking on very thin ice.” He muttered under his breath and she scoffed, swatting his arm slightly.

“Oh, please, there are far worse things I could have said. Like that time when we broke into the-“ she started speaking, but before any words could expose them, he pressed his hand to her lips, his eyes telling her to be quiet. Naveen laughed, a small hint of an idea about just what happened between the two already forming in his head.

“You two are acting like kids.”

Both of them turned towards him, then looked at each other, leaning away like they got burned. Another laugh escaped Naveen’s lips as he clapped his hands.

“We’re not kids. It’s just… complicated.” Ethan mused, refusing to look at Claire again.

“Oh, I know. And I also know that you two are about to act like even bigger kids when I tell you, that my other guest room is in renovation, the couch is gone, as you can see, and that means that you two are sleeping in the same bed tonight.”

The room got so quiet that the pin dropping to the ground would be loud. Ethan turned to look at Claire with an uncertain look in his eyes, checking in with her. She seemed to be just as lost, and before either could say anything to the older doctor, he snickered, tapping his hand against the table, wished them a good night and left them alone.

“Do you-“ he started speaking, only to be immediately stopped by her.

“Don’t even think about it, Ramsey.”

Suddenly, they were sober, no trace of intoxication present. Both acutely aware of the situation they were in. Both fighting, with all they had, to keep their feelings at bay, to not fall right back to where they were. Ethan put on his mask, shielding himself from her, and she seemed to be doing exactly the same. Despite them both being friendly just seconds ago, the change in the balance caused them to put their defenses up.

The room was dark, the covers of the bed made and ready for them to get to sleep. Claire went into the bathroom without saying a word of even so much as looking at him, leaving Ethan by himself. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as all the air left his body, making him feel empty. He knew it was his idea to stay away from each other, and playful banter and harmless flirting didn’t do any harm, but this was different. They were about to spend the night together, in the same bed, with nowhere to hide or run, and it terrified him. He didn’t want to hurt her, he didn’t want to fight. Truth be told, he didn’t know what he wanted. All he knew was that he couldn’t bring himself to forget her and move on, she was just that potent to him, in every way possible. She got him addicted to her, and he didn’t want to go to rehab.

By the time she got out of the bathroom, he was already in bed, his chest bare, his body covered by the covers. Their eyes met for a split second before she looked away, laying down next to him, keeping as much distance between them as she could. The last light was turned off, the complete darkness accompanied the silence of the room.

He could feel her breathing, hear her breathing. The air was cold, the late November having its toll on the temperature in the room. He felt a shiver run through his body as he pulled on the covers to keep warm. Some tugging came from the side, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Could you please not pull all the covers to your side? I’m cold too, you know.” She spoke with a low voice, no emotions except for annoyance.

“I have no idea what you mean, you have plenty of covers.” He responded without opening his eyes, lying on his back. She scoffed but didn’t say another word.

A few minutes went by and he thought she fell asleep. Nothing could have been further from the truth. All of a sudden, she moved, throwing the covers up from his body and positioning herself on top of him, her head in the crook of his neck, her hands moving the covers over both of them.

“Rookie, what the hell are you doing?” he exclaimed, keeping his hands away from her, not sure what to do.

“Maybe you’re not aware, but you stole all the blankets, and the night is cold. I tried to pull some back, but you didn’t budge, and I was not about to die of hypothermia. You either take it as it is, or you let me have more blankets.”

He hesitated. He knew he should have told her to move, told her he’d give her the blankets, all of them if she wanted. But he didn’t. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her steady against his chest, their body heat mixing, warming them up more than any blankets ever could on their own. He waited for her to react, waited for her to say anything, but she didn’t comment on it either, just fell deeper into his embrace.

The room was silent again, the only sounds were their breathing. Time slowed down, dragging mercilessly as he tried to fall asleep, but couldn’t seem to do it. He was too stressed, too awake, too distracted by her to focus on sleeping. Sudden movement made him all the more alert, the slightest of touches, a whisper of her fingertips on his chest. His breath got caught in his throat for a split second, his muscles tensing.

“Rookie.” He tried asking her what this was about, but didn’t get any answer.

“Rookie?” his voice gained a concerned edge, his grip on her tightening ever so slightly.

“_Rookie-“_

Her head snapped upwards as his head fell down, their eyes locking. Their lips were mere inches away from each other and the atmosphere got hot, intense. He heard her gasp softly, surprise spelled on her face. He thought about what he should do, what was the right thing to do, but everything was thrown out the window when her eyes dropped to his lips for just a second. This time, he didn’t hesitate.

His lips caught hers in a kiss that took his breath away, their eyes still locked. He stilled his movements, giving her a chance to back out. Except, she didn’t. Her fingers tangled into his hair, pulling on it as she dived into the kiss. Ethan’s arms wound around her tighter, his palms spread flat across her back, pressing her closer.

“Ethan… Ethan, wait… _Ethan…_” she tried talking but was stopped by his lips every time, making them laugh. She dug her hands into his sides, tickling him, making him let out a sound that bordered on a shriek.

“What is it?” he breathed heavily, nuzzling his nose against the line of her jaw. She smoothed his hair, brushing a lock out of his eyes.

“Nothing, just… what is this? What are we doing?” Claire asked, looking past and through all the layers of excuses and worthless words that didn’t hold any meaning to them. There they were, bare and with nothing to protect them from harm, asking for trust and willing to give that trust back.

“I- I don’t know. I don’t know who I am anymore. Everything I believed in changed when I met you. And I don’t want to go back to who I was before. All I know is that you are here, with me, and it couldn’t possibly be better.” He confessed, speaking the words that have been stuck in his head for the past couple of months, created in his mind during long, sleepless nights, after waking up from another dream about her. His voice was warm and soft, vulnerable and delicate, engulfing her like a blanket.

“Ethan…” she tried speaking, but her words betrayed her, leaving emptiness. Everything was lost, the only thing that stayed was him, everything he was to her. Everything he could be for her.

Claire pulled him back into her, kissing him like she wanted to do so many times. Rolling over, she pulled him on top of her, her arms wrapping around his neck, laughing as he stumbled a little, supporting himself with his elbow. The kiss was lighthearted and playful, slowly climbing towards something more. That kiss carried them into the darkness of the night, a beginning to many more, with the unknown and many more nights just like this one ahead of them.


End file.
